Nrc Gives Surry Power Station Good Review

April 04, 2003|By CHRIS FLORES Daily Press

SURRY — Federal regulators told Dominion Virginia Power officials Thursday that the nuclear Surry Power Station had operated safely over the past year.

The only problem noted in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's annual review of the plant was a deficiency in the three backup diesel generators that would allow the plant's two reactors to function safely if their main power source failed. The plant learned in 2001 that a new type of diesel oil was damaging the generators.

The generator that backs up the two main generators -- each of which backs up a reactor -- suffered the most damage. All three had to be shut down at various times to switch to a new grade of oil, as well as for other improvements.

Still, the NRC said, the time when the Surry plant operated with limited backup power was minor. Two of the generators have been fixed, and work on the third is almost done.

Plant management did a good job of finding any problems and correcting them without significant regulatory action in the past year, regulators said.

The Surry plant had to undergo extra federal inspections over the past year to earn the 20-year license renewal awarded two weeks ago. The extension will allow Dominion to run the reactors until 2032. "The young people on your staff will have a job for a long time," said Kerry Landis, branch chief for Surry's NRC region who ran the meeting Thursday.

Some workers at the plant, which employs 870, were part of a two-week strike in August. The plant handled the turnover of its staff "very professionally," Landis noted.

The NRC said it inspected Surry in January to ensure that the plant was complying with interim security measures while the NRC did a comprehensive review of nuclear plants' security. The NRC created an Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response in April 2002 to deal with terrorist threats.

Chris Flores can be reached at 247-4738 or by e-mail at cflores@dailypress.com